How Chinese Company Cango Became a Powerhouse in the Bitcoin Mining Market
Date: 2025-01-06 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
In late 2024, Cango acquired 50 EH/s of mining equipment, making it one of the largest companies in the Bitcoin mining market. Based in Shanghai and valued at $363 million, Cango has long been involved in car loans, but now it is decisively expanding its horizons by becoming a major player in the cryptocurrency industry.
The company acquired 50 EH/s of computing power, which will give it approximately 6% of the total computing power of the Bitcoin network. By comparison, the largest public company in the mining market, MARA Holdings, owns just over 47 EH/s. To achieve this, Cango spent $256 million in cash on the first 32 EH/s from mining hardware maker Bitmain and another $144 million in stock for the remaining 18 EH/s.
Cango’s story is one of adaptation and diversification. As Juliet Ye, the company’s senior director of communications, explained, Cango started out as a car loan service but soon expanded its operations to include car exports, an investment in Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto, and renewable energy projects. The move into mining was a natural extension of that process.
“Bitcoin mining is a great way to balance the grid,” Ye said, noting that companies can easily turn their rigs on and off based on energy needs. In some jurisdictions, like Texas, this allows miners to operate during periods of low power demand and also get paid to turn off their equipment during peak demand, such as during heat waves or snowfalls.
The company also actively partners with Bitmain to provide infrastructure and manage mining operations at various sites around the world. However, as Yeh admitted, despite its massive computing power, Cango does not yet fully own its mining equipment and continues to rely on an external service.
“We are still new to this industry and need time to adapt,” she said. In the future, as the company gains experience, it plans to reduce its reliance on Bitmain and develop its own resources, which may be a more cost-effective solution.
While Cango has focused its efforts on bitcoin mining, the company continues to study the market and opportunities to improve its economic strategy. At the moment, the company has already mined 363.9 bitcoins, which at the time of writing is valued at $35 million.
